2yo and teeth brushing

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

Our 2yo DD hates brushing her teeth. She throws a tantrum every morning and every night. It's getting to the point where we have to do it while she rolling on the floor.

Any advice as to how to get her to comply?

When she has a regular tantrum we just ignore the bad behaviour but surely this can't be ignored. There is no alternative.

TIA

Is she at the stage where "Fine, don't get your teeth brushed but no treats for the next two days" will ahve an effect? That's what we say to DS when he is playing up

Mine is like this too and TBH we just have to do it as best we can, sometimes it involves me and DP pinning him down, other times he is more co-operative and enjoys it when we say things like:

'Right then, lets see who we have here. Here's mammy tooth, and here's daddy tooth over here and lets see if we can tickle nain tooth at the back etc'

or

'Lets see those cheeky teeth, oh! look! this one has grass on it, and this one has rabbit ^fur' on it, and, how did you manage to get chocolate on this one? Cheeky teeth!'

or

by telling him about his day and who he's seen and what he's done or by making things up and allowing him to correct me.

Stickers worked for a while but they don't seem to anymore. It's just a case of doing what needs to be done and trying to make it fun and new or distracting them. HTH!

you're not alone.

we're lucky if Ds's front teeth get a smidgen of toothpaste on them. we manage to brush his teeth properly about once every 2/3 weeks!!

i constantly worry that he's getting cavities.

If I say to her "right don't have them brushed then but you don't get..." she just walks off and says ok.

It has got to the stage where we have pinned her down and she is screaming but then it's almost easier that way as her mouth is open.

She likes to do it herself and it actually quite good at doing the front teeth but she can't get the coordination to do the back ones. Therefore we try to do "DD do the little ones, mummy will do the big ones" but that doesn't work.

She is so headstrong. We have her first trip to the dentist tomorrow so god know how that will go. She'll probably have his finger off!

I was contemplating getting some stickers and doing a reward sheet type thing. But then I worry about how long I'll have to keep doing it for. Will I still be giving her a sticker for having her teeth brushed when she's 15?

You've made some good suggestions there breastmilksonme, I'll have to something like that next time the dreaded time comes!

Thank you all for the kind advice :)

Lady, she has 3 toothbrushes already a green one and orange one and a pink one!

Letting her do mine is something I would try. We use that trick for hairbrushing

DD never used to like having her teeth cleaned, and sometimes I wondered if her gums were sensitive. It did seem to help if I promised to be as gentle as I could be. Or ignore the tantrum and start singing loudly - something long like 10 green bottles or one man went to mow. Then say I could only sing if she let me scrub. On bad days, yes, I had to hold her down. I used to hate that. Now she's old enough to be able to do them perfectly well but can't be bothered (10). So I find pictures of rotting teeth on the internet. Lovely.

DS has just past this stage, nearly 3.
tried everything, songs, toothbrushes,making a game of it.
I bought strawberry toothpaste, that was a bit better. and if he thought he was getting a prize or being a good boy, or "show daddy how good you are getting your teeth brushed" sometimes worked
I just had to pin him down to do it. Wrapped up in the towel so he couldn't get me!
Sometimes he would let me do it, sometimes it would be a fight. I felt bad cos thought it would make him hate anything to do with teeth brushing, so I did continue with the games, laughing, counting etc, but all of a sudden, he just did it. Doesn't do it properly anyway, so I still end up going over them! but no fuss now.

Thanks all for your advice hopefully it's just a phase. I think she just wants to be too independent right now.

this is what we do (DD2 is just over 2yo)...

DD2 "brushes" her own teeth while I encourage her to do it correctly- colour each tooth with the toothpaste/ that's it draw little circles/ good, now all the way to the back...

The I say "Well done little Lion- now show me what you've done" and then it's my chance to "inspect" her great work and give her teeth a proper brush. There's lots of praise and "Wow- your teeth are shining in my eyes- I'll just check this one..."

DD2 feels suitable proud and minty and I get to brush after her.

Research shows it's the motion that matters not the paste-so I'm less bothered about DD2 chewing/ swallowing the paste than I am about making sure I get in there after. However, I do subtly push the toothpaste down into the bristles to encourage her to brush longer.

I think you're spot on about your DD wanting the independence- it's her age.

HTH

We have two brushes, one for them to do it themselves with and then we do again with the second brush.

We also have the easy way and the hard way. Hard way is with them pinned down doing it regardless of the strop, easy way is where they sit niccely. I offer easy way up to count of 3 then straight into the hard way. Have to say that both DS's are now v. good at having them done after some initial resistance around the age of your DD.

hi,

this is difficult but i think you do have to insist , try doing her teeth the way the dentist would from behind if you hold her make sure her head is not right underneath your chin but on your shoulder because if she throws her head make quickly it could knock your chin hard and then chip your teeth (have treated 2 mothers for this in past 2 years) reward charts do work but kids outgrow them, kids need supervision util they are 7 brushing teeth as they dont do the back ones and sometimes as the first adult molar comes in behind baby teeth people dont notice and think its another baby tooth and then when you see them at 7 there is a hole! I still get upset when have to refer 3-4 year olds for a GA for several extractions not fun for anyone.
if she will not co-operate and you are worried dentist may prescribe fluoride drops if none in water and you are happy with this, but if she will not open her mouth for you she wont for the dentist either
dentists are used to kids not opening occasionally its because they are scared but mostly its because they just dont want to as they are generally not scared if never been before.
how do you get her to do other stuff she does not want to do? my DD is only 9 months but seems ok so far with brush but who knows when she starts bing independent!!! agree with thehairybabysmum it just has to be done

good luck

Thnka SarahT....it's nice to hear that being a cowbag is sometims the right thing to do!!!

We have exactly the same problem, I bribe DD with fave tv programe while we do it. I have DD sat on my lap and brush from behind. She likes to grab the brush before I've finished and it can be a bit of a fight. Sometimes if I brush her fave toy's teeth first she is a bit more willing or I say so and so (character from a book for example) has such nice teeth from good brushing. Its my least favourite part of the day, but its the one thing I won't compromise on. You're not alone and I feel better knowing we aren't either. .

Oh yes, been there too! With DD (nearly 22 months) I find if I sing her favourite songs then she's happy to let me brush them - or make up/nonsense silly songs, she likes that too. Or maybe get her to brush a favourite toy's teeth while you do hers?

Thanks all.

We have just come back from our first familt trip to the dentist. DH and I hadn't been registered for over 7 years so finally got a place.

DD was brilliant and was playing with his mirror on a stick thing and got a sticker. Her teeth are healthy so my forceful pinning down is worth it :)

This morning I let her 'brush' my teeth while I did hers and it worked a treat no complaining or crying.

SarahT, my DD loved brushing her teeth at 9 months all the way up to a few months ago. It was a novelty and she'd be in the bathroom brushing maybe 3 or 4 time daily. It's just now she is forming her independence
and being very headstrong.